Venison sandwiches can be a thing of beauty, but they can also be a nightmare. There’s a fine line between the two when it comes to deer, and it’s usually crossed when the lean meat goes from tender to leather.

For venison cheesesteaks, the solution for creating a Philly that’s as good as beef is simple: use thinly sliced meat. The thinly sliced meats help in two big ways. For one, it’s easier to cook to medium rare when the meat is so thin that just a change in color to the outside signifies that it’s done. Secondly, thin meat allows for better marinating.

To better understand why thinly-sliced meat is superior for marinades, let’s consult science. Before we do that, imagine all the recipes you’ve used in the past that call for marinades. You’ve probably noticed that the roasts and bigger cuts of meat don’t gain much flavor, even after soaking for days. This is because the surface area is the most important factor for getting a marinade to work.

Some argue that marinades help with tenderizing, too, but this is another common misconception. The reality is that even the best marinades only penetrate about 1/8 inch into a piece of meat. As noted by professional chef Russ Parsons, this often leaves marinated meat with meek results.

Catherine Hu, a food science writer, agrees with Parsons, pointing out that the act of marinating is adsorption, not absorption. Adsorption is where liquid adheres to the surface of an object, while absorption is where a liquid penetrates the object. Since the liquid of a marinade is only making it surface deep, regardless of soak time, you’re gaining little flavor or tenderizing.

Because of this, meat that is very thin with a lot of surface area is about the only time it’s practical to enlist a marinade. Even thin meat marinades aren’t foolproof, though, as it’s best to stick with salty, watery soaks, rather than oily or acidy ones. Oil marinades simply don’t do anything because meat is already about 75-percent water, and oil and water just don’t mix. Marinades that are heavy on acids will do some “tenderizing”, but it’s really just cooking the surface of the meat while it’s soaking and creating a mushy product.

For slicing your meat, it’s best to leave the roast or loin that you choose slightly frozen. This gives the meat some firmness that allows for cleaner knifework that thawed out cuts can’t produce. To produce that perfect slicing temp, a night of sitting in the refrigerator after coming out of the freezer will work. The thickness you’re looking for should resemble that of muscle jerky, being thin enough to make a marinade work, yet thick enough to give your sandwich some substance.

As for the rest of the ingredients, there’s more science wisdom to be known when it comes to creating the perfect caramelized onions. Most are familiar with this culinary term but don’t realize what it actually means. Caramelizing is more than just sautéing, it’s the slow process of drawing out the best flavors of yellow and purple onions. When caramelizing onions, you want to cook them low and slow, with just enough oil to keep them from sticking to the pan.

This allows the polysaccharides and disaccharides, or large sugar molecules, to break down and turn into monosaccharides, or smaller sugar molecules. This transformation from bitter, raw onions to sweet, soft ones is by the slow addition of heat, whereas going too fast will make them blander. It’s a crucial step in creating the perfect Philly, and there’s no arguing with that science.

Along with what ingredients you have in your marinade , I had a splash of gravy Browning sauce. And just a pinch of cayenne pepper , ground of course. And my secret is dash of vinegar red wine. The vinegar helps really with the toughness of the meat beyond flavouring the steak.
When I make my renowned chili , people rave over it as the best they ever had and I always use venison. But that’s another recipe of course. No you can’t have it.
But I spent my life hunting and eating what I harvest. My pop taught me if you shoot it you eat it .
My mother hated venison , but ate the steaks , quote , the best steak I ever had. No I didn’t tell her .

So, good meat, good eat… but you could have put a bit more emphasis on the bread, after all we’re talking about a sandwich. As anyone from Philly will tell you, if the roll doesn’t cut it (like in the thing in this articles photo), then you didn’t make the steak. Don’t spoil your effort, get some fresh rolls from a reputable bakery to make a good Philly Cheesesteak, even bake the 10 minute pillsbury biscuit style type bread (reforming the biscuits into long rolls is easy by squeezing them together) if you can’t get a hold of good fresh bakery rolls. If you bake your own, brush them with salted butter for a great flavor.

Without doubt, the most factual, logical and grammatically correct article ever to appear on GA. Your description of the why, not just the how, reminds me of Alton Brown. I will be trying this recipe. Thank you.